The Dead Are Alive
by MadeInInk
Summary: Grace Ripper, a young bookstore owner, has been alone for many years. When a vampire, Henry Sturges, shows up in her store with a message from her lost friend, Alexander, things slowly begin to change. After she has been told about vampires by Abraham Lincoln himself, she decides to hunt the being that killed her parents. How far will she go to avenge them? (Rating may change.)


**_The Dead Are Alive: Prologue  
"The Ballad Of Mona Lisa"  
_**

It was the end of autumn, just going into winter when I saw him. I was in my book store, which had opened not a week before. I hadn't much business in my old Kentucky town, but it was where all of my family had lived, and how could I break trend?

So I stayed in Kentucky, and opened my own bookstore. I bought an old home out in the country, raised my own horses (and trained and broke them myself, thank you very much).

At twenty-eight years old I had fulfilled most of my dreams, all except one. That dream was becoming a published author. And as I sat in the bookstore, I wondered what has stopped me. The answer was clear; lack of inspiration. Little did I know, inspiration would come in a strange way.

He walked into the store after hours. I was playing music, and dancing. I had turned the music so loud that I couldn't hear the bell that signaled a costumer had come in.

"Try a little more, a little more, and a little more. He'll slap you like a bitch and you take it like a whore!" I sang. It wasn't until the song ended that I heard the chuckling man behind me. I spun around quickly, grabbing a book off of the shelf for defense.

His chuckling was replaced by a smirk. "I'm sorry, sir, but we're closed." I said cautiously. "I'm here from Alexander." He said. I stood there in shock for a moment.

Then, "Oh." I looked down, putting away my book and sighing. "That's strange." He said. I looked up at him. "Abr- Alexander fell into the same mood when he talked me into coming here."

I smiled slightly. "We had a slight disagreement, that's all." I said, "I assume you already know my name, so it's only polite to say yours."

The stranger in front of me was, well, strange. He was wearing sunglasses that allowed no light to hit his eyes, a leather jacket and some black slacks. The stranger said, "Says the girl who was just cussing like a sailor. But, in any case, my name is Henry. Henry Sturges." I glared at him, before dropping my glare and sighing. "Let's just get this over with. What does he want?" I asked.

"Is there any other place we can speak about this?" He asked. I nodded, "There's my house, if you like," He walked out the door, motioning me to follow. I assumed that was a yes, so I followed, turning out the lights and locking the door as well.

I stepped out of the store and saw the most beautiful car I had ever seen. I also saw that Henry was opening the door for me, so I got into his expensive car and soon we were on our way to my house. I gave him directions, the occasional "turn left here" or "next street on the right."

All the while I was slightly angry. If Alexander really wanted to see me he would have come here himself. Instead, he sends some messenger. Fuming, I got out of the car and unlocked my door. The familiar scent of lavender and vanilla calmed me, and I silently lead Henry into the library.

There, we both sat down in my brown leather chairs. He said, "Alexander sent me to, as he had said, 'bring back what I once lost'. In other words, he wants me to bring you to him. He said he wants to 'finally tell you the truth'. I told him he was being absurd, but he insisted." I took in his words.

So I would finally know the truth of why he slipped away from all those times, of why he could not tell me where went when disappear for days, of why he suddenly had to leave me for so many years.

"Why not come himself?" I asked.

"He has business to take care of." Came his answer.

"I understand. I will come, but what about my horses?" I asked.

"Alexander has horses of his own. You can bring them in a trailer," Henry said.

"Okay. Where is he?" I asked. "He's in Michigan. I can't guarantee how long he will be there."

"I'll pack up my stuff. We leave in the morning."

* * *

We rode for hours on end, Henry driving all the while. I was asleep when we arrived. I was woken by a, "Hey, wake up. We're here." I opened my eyes to see a large country home, surrounded by trees. A field was fenced in, and within it were horses. Henry drove into the field, and we let my horses out. Finally, we pulled up to the house.

We both got out, and Henry took out a key and unlocked the door. He must be a very trusted friend of Alex's, to have his house key.

When the door opened, I noticed that many lights were on. Henry said, "He is probably in his office. Up the stairs, second room on the left." I nodded, and made my into his office.

He was leaning over his desk when he looked up. He had the same, dark unkempt hair, and grey eyes. He had the same scar on his chin, with probably numerous ones to follow. My eyes softened as I looked at him. He stood up. Next thing I knew I was in his arms, hugging him as tight as I could. He was so much taller than me that he had to bend over to hug me. His skin was still cold, and I strangely found comfort the familiarity of it.

We sat down on the couch, holding hands and smiling. "I've missed you so much!" I said, fighting back some tears. "And I, you." He said smiling.

"Henry said you were going to finally tell me." I said. He smile slowly dropped into a frown. He nodded, looking away, and began his story.

He told how his real name was Abraham Lincoln, and how he met Henry. He told me about vampires. He told me that Henry and himself were vampires. He told me that vampires killed his mother, that he was recruiting people to hunt them, for vampires cannot kill their own kind. He told me... everything.

After he was finished he stared at me, eyes unblinking, waiting for my reaction. I stared at him, my eyes also unblinking, registering what he said.

Slowly, I stood up, and walked out the door. I saw his confused expression out of the corner of my eye, but I dared not look him in the face. Instead I walked down the stairs, and out the front door. It was only when he touched my shoulder to turn me around that I snapped out of it.

I turned around so fast you would have missed it in a blink. "How dare you!" I yelled. "I came all this way for the truth and I only get more lies! You.. You're.. unbelievable!" I didn't have too look him in the face to know that there was hurt in his eyes, but I did, and it was overwhelming.

"Grace, believe me, I beg of you. What I say is true." He said. I took at deep breath to calm myself, and what I said next I know nearly broke his heart.

"If what you say is true, then there is more betrayal here than I can forgive."

With that, I took off running into the forest, not knowing where I was going or why, just that I was desperate to get away from the world. I ran through the trees, swatting away branches and thorn bushes. It was only when I could run no longer, until my legs ached, that I stopped.

I felt a cold hand on my shoulder, and thinking it was Abraham, I said, "Abraham, I-" And suddenly the breath was knocked out me, and I was on my back. A man was in front of me, smiling, and I thought for a minute that I was going to die. "Your Abraham isn't here to protect you, is he now?"

He pulled me up with ease and pressed my body to a tree, holding me by the neck with one hand and unbuttoning his pants with another. It was then that a voice rang out, "Don't you touch her!"

I was in a daze, but I could recognize the voice to be Abraham's, and that was all I needed. I hoisted my legs up and kicked him in the stomach. His surprise was used as an opportunity to get me a gun. I shot him in the head.

I dropped to my knees, sobbing. Abraham carried me all the way to the house, all the while me crying. I don't recall going to sleep, but when my eyes opened next I was in a large bed. I assumed it was the guest bedroom. I sat up and pulled the covers off of myself. I then realized I was in my pajamas. I blushed at the thought of Abraham changing my clothes for me.

Abraham and I had a complicated relationship. I had known him since I was twenty, and after a year of knowing him we became close friends. But he was always canceling plans, always leaving in the middle of a conversation. We soon became best friends. But one day he showed up on my doorstep beaten and battered, and I demanded to know what happened. I told him I was tired of all the secrets. He told me he couldn't tell me for my own safety.

_"Well, if you can't tell me because my safety is concerned, then why are you even near me?" I yelled. _

_He stopped bandaging his wounds and said, "You're right. I've been selfish." _

I never saw him again. In fact, I didn't even hear from him until Henry came to retrieve me. Each night I would scream from the pain in my chest, from the pain of loosing him. Eventually someone called the police, and after that I stopped.

"Grace, how are you feeling?" Abraham was standing in the doorway, looking at me with concern.

"I'm alright." I said.

"There's a shower right there," He pointed to a door across the room. "You can clean up and come to the dining room when you're done, if you like," I nodded, and he walked out of the room and shut the door.

I got in the shower, scrubbing off the dirt from the incident before. I wrapped a towel around myself and looking the mirror. All I saw was a thin figure, emerald eyes, and black hair.

I looked away, getting dressed and drying my hair. I walked out the room, down the stairs, and into the dining room. There sat Henry and Abraham, and they stopped talking as I walked in. "I've reached a decision." They looked at me expectantly, and Abraham with some confusion. "I want to be taught how to hunt." I said.

"No." Abraham answered immediately.

"This isn't your decision." Came my response.

"You aren't capable. You'll die on your first hunt, I know it."

"Huh, I see how much you believe in me. But it doesn't matter anyway. I'm not asking you to teach me," I paused.

"I'm asking Henry." There was a moment of silence. Henry shrugged, "Why not? We start tonight."

"Henry, no! I will not allow it!" Abraham said.

"It's not your choice, Abraham! How long did you think it would take for me to figure out who killed my parents and my sister?" I yelled. He stayed silent. I took deep breath, clenching my fists, "If I cannot avenge my parents, my sister, what kind of sister, what kind of daughter, am I?" Abraham looked away.

Henry nodded. "Come, then." He said, walking out of the room. After taking one last look at Abraham, who still wouldn't look me in the face, I followed Henry into the basement.

There, I saw an arsenal of weapons, in which I saw some daggers and two pistols that looked very appealing. As I reached for them, Henry said, "Hold on. Before you can go through weapon training, you have to go through combat training." I nodded, pulling my hand back.

"Alright." He said. "Let's begin."

* * *

Henry taught me how to dodge a vampires attacks, how to fight in the dark, and how to tell where a vampire is when it turns invisible. After each lesson, I was on the floor, sweating and aching. Yet each time I got back up, each time I trained harder than before.

_"She paints her fingers with a close precision." _

Hit.

_"He starts to notice empty bottles of gin."  
__  
_After hit.

_"And takes a moment to access the sin she's paid for."_

After hit.

_"He senses something, call it desperation."_

After hit.

_"Another dollar, another day."_

After hit.

_"And if she had the proper words to say, she would tell him.."_

After hit.

_"... that she had nothing left to sell him."_

After hit.

Until finally I could take no more. It was dawn by the time we stopped. Or rather, it was dawn by the time I could no longer move. I was wearing nothing but a sports bra and some very short shorts. We were fighting in the dark again, and I had received a blow from Henry that knocked every wisp of breath from my lungs.

Henry had apparently expected me to dodge it, for he called out, "Grace?" When he didn't hear me answer, he turned on the lights. It was then he saw me on the floor, my mouth open trying to catch air, and my hands clutching my chest. His eyes widened, and he rushed to my side. Without a sound, he pressed his lips to mine, and breathed air into my lungs.

My eyes widened, but once my lungs began to work again, they closed. I was breathing once more.

My eyes didn't open for the rest of that day.

* * *

I woke up, and for a second I didn't remember a thing. Then, it came crashing down on me. Did.. Henry.. kiss me? No, no, he was saving me from asphyxiation. But still, the look in his eyes as he did so.. it was intense, the kind of stare you would get from millions of people wrapped into one.

I got up, took a shower and changed clothes. By the time I was done the sun was rising. So I went downstairs, listening the padding of my feet against the wood. I sighed, and sat down on the bottom step.

Without thinking, I touched my fingers to my lips, and smiled.


End file.
